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Just twisted my rear derailleur!!

So yeh, my rear derailleur is a twisted mess

Decided to do the grizedale loop this morning, got about half way round on a technical downhill section when my I herd the derailleur hitting the spokes. Tired bending it back as best as I could to finish the ride but the bike was un-rideable!
Iv just bought a new chain (which I havent fitted yet) and now im after a rear derailleur but im not sure if I need a short, medium or long cage? I currently have 2 chainrings 36/24T at the front and a 9 speed 11-34T cassette.

Re: Just twisted my rear derailleur!!

The mech hanger is the part of the frame that the rear mech bolts on to. On many frames this is a replaceable part (bike specific and won't come with the mech). In cases such as yours where the mech has been bent, this part of the frame often gets bent too. It needs to be straight for your gears to work properly, so if it has also bent then you either need to replace the mech hanger or, if it is not removable, get it straightened (possible with care and a large adjustable wrench but definitely a job best suited for a good cycle mechanic with the proper tool).

Re: Just twisted my rear derailleur!!

Take it to your LBS and have the frame checked for alignment too, just to be sure there is no more damage. Also when picking up a new mech hanger its good policy to buy two, just in case the same thing happens again!

Re: Just twisted my rear derailleur!!

The hangar may or may not be part of the frame. My bike has a softer metal hangar that is supposed to bend instead of the frame. Worked so far. I have killed one derailier and two hangars in this way.

A lot depends upon what you ride. So what do you ride and does it have a separate hangar (Worth carrying a spare if you do).

Luck

Yeh my derailleur is attatched to a softer metal hanger which is the attatched to the dropout. you could easily see that the softer metal hanger was bent, so I also took the dropout off to check it out and thats only slightly bent by 1-2mm, hopefully im getting it strightend at work tomz.
Iv got a new derailleur and have been looking for a replacement dropout and the only place I can find one is ebay from usa!